5 Reasons Your Home Didn't Sell...
If selling your home is still something you would like to do, here are the 5 most common culprits that may have kept Buyers away from making an Offer.
Correct them, and chances are when you re-list your home will get SOLD.
1. You are battling competition or market conditions
We’ve all heard the terms “Buyer’s Market” and “Seller’s Market”. In real estate, market conditions are affected by any number of external forces, some of them predictable, some of them unpredictable.
In a “hot” or “Seller’s” Market, homes typically sell fast. Inventory (homes on the market) may be low, meaning less competition for you. Chances are better that you will get your asking price (if realistically priced) in a hot market; in fact, it is not uncommon to even be offered more than your listing price, provided the listing prices was realistic to begin with.
But, in a “Flat” or “Buyer’s” Market, sales slow to a trickle, homes available for sale grow and Buyers can find bargains, especially when they know the Seller is motivated (i.e. paying on two mortgages!).
If you’re trying to sell in a flat market, you’re not only competing against all that vacant new construction, but against rentals as well. In this case, be prepared to settle for less than top dollar, or wait to sell until the market turns in your favour once again.
2. You’re in a less desirable location
The old real estate adage is true: Location, Location, Location.
Nothing has a greater effect on your home’s value than its location. Your home may be worth a king’s ransom if it were located in Palm Beach, Aspen or San Francisco. It might even jump thousands in value if it were located just a street or two over.
If your home’s location is less than desirable, your options are somewhat limited. A good REALTOR® will do his best to help you accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative of your circumstances, maybe by using foliage to screen off an offensive adjacent property or to dampen traffic noise.
The best way to compensate for a poor location is to reduce your asking price or offer attractive incentives such as seller financing.
3. You had ineffective marketing
Gone are the days when a REALTOR® could simply place your listing with the local multiple listing service, hold the occasional Open House and wait for another REALTOR® to bring forth a Buyer.
Computers and the Internet have changed the face of real estate. According to the National Association of Realtors, today more than two-thirds of all home buyers use the Internet for house hunting. The best REALTORS® are computer-savvy. They have your listing in colour on their laptops to show to clients and communicate frequently via email, a particular boon when working with out-of-town buyers.
Suffice it to say that that if your REALTOR® isn’t listing your home online on a variety of web sites, you may not be getting the exposure necessary to find a Buyer.
There are REALTORS® who simply list your home in the MLS, take out a couple of newspaper ads and pray that it will sell and then there are those that put a lot of time and effort into marketing their listings. Unfortunately, you’re the one that pays the price.
4. Your home doesn’t show well
Your home is competing against shiny new houses in those pristine subdivisions with their attractive prices, incentives and community amenities.
Face it: Even the best old house needs a little makeover if it hopes to attract a qualified Buyer.
The good news is that most of the work will be cosmetic and relatively inexpensive, especially if you can tackle some of the work yourself. A new coat of paint, a few attractive window boxes, a thorough cleaning of floors and carpets. Voila! The place may look good enough to reconsider. Chances are you’ve seen one of the many TV shows that tackle this subject and you’re familiar with the amazing results that can be achieved for very little money.
Did your REALTOR®make any suggestions for improving the look of your home? A good REALTOR® can advise you on where your time and money are best spent.
Price and condition are the two things that the Seller can do something about. Paint is probably a Seller’s best friend because it makes things smell fresh and look fresh. Painting provides the best return on investment, particularly if you can do some or most of it yourself.
5. Your overpriced your home
Optimistic homes sellers love to parrot the old adage, “There’s a Buyer for every home.” But they often leave off the qualifier “at the right price.”
The fact is that Buyers, not Sellers and certainly not REALTORS®, ultimately determine the market value of a home. You can ask for the moon and set your listing price well above comparable properties in your neighbourhood, but at some point it will be up to you, the seller, to accept what the Buyer thinks your home is worth.
Maybe you set an unrealistic price because that is what your REALTOR® suggested! Beware of the REALTOR® who suggests an unrealistic price, chances are they are doing so just to secure your listing, with the knowledge that sooner or later you'll drop your price. Look at similar homes For Sale and those that have recently sold, and compare your home against them objectively.
Overpricing is the most common reason homes don’t sell. When you ask an unrealistic price, it sets in motion a process that often works against you.
Here’s why:
Most REALTORS®, and hence most qualified Buyers, will see your new listing within 30 days. If it is overpriced by as little as 5% it will be duly noted and interest in your property will wane, especially if you show no intention of coming off your asking price. You likely already priced out Buyers who might have qualified for financing at a more reasonable price. Even if you manage to find a Buyer at your inflated asking price, the property may not appraise at that figure and the financing will fall apart.
Your REALTOR® may have approved or even suggested the inflated asking price to secure your listing. Conversely, other agents often use overpriced properties like yours to help sell their own listings. (“Here’s what they’re asking. Now would you like to take a second look at that first house I showed you, it offers much better value!”)
“If you have a house that really should be priced at $300,000 and you’ve got it listed at $360,000, you are trying to compete against homes that really are worth close to $370,000 and all of a sudden your home really is not competing well,” says Jeri Fisher of Jeri Fisher Real Estate. You need to compete with what is available out there among homes similar to yours.
If your home remains on the market for too long, REALTORS® and Buyers may begin to wonder if there are other, perhaps more serious reasons why it isn’t selling.
Your home becomes shopworn, the same as a jacket hanging in the store week after week, people become aware that it has been on the market a long time and REALTORS® stop showing it. When you’re home is first listed, you make an extra special effort to keep it clean and shining. As the weeks wear on you become tired and frustrated and you begin to let things slide – your home no longer shows as well as it did.
If you price right from the beginning, based on similar homes for sale in your area, the right Buyers will see your home, and you stand a far greater chance of getting it SOLD for market value.
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Not intended to solicit clients/customers who are currently under a Listing Agreement
or Buyer Representation Agreement with another Brokerage.